The Way of the Nations

25 “Look, days are coming,” ⌊declares⌋[fn] Yahweh, “and I will call into account all those who are circumcised in the foreskin: 26 Egypt, Judah, and Edom, and the ⌊Ammonites⌋,[fn] and Moab, and all those who are trimmed to the side, those who live in the desert,[fn] for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

10 Hear the word that Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says Yahweh:

• “You must not learn the way of the nations,
  • and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens,
  • for the nations are dismayed by them.
• 3 For the statutes of the peoples are vanity,
  • for it is a tree cut down from the forest,
  • the work of the hands of a craftsman with the tool.
• 4 He decorates it with silver and gold,
  • they strengthen it with nails and hammers,
  • so that it does not stagger.
• 5 They are like scarecrows[fn] in a cucumber field,
  • they cannot speak.
• Indeed, they must be carried,
  • for they cannot march.
• You must not be afraid of them,
  • for they cannot do evil;
• furthermore, to do good is not in them.”
• 6 There is none like you, O Yahweh,
  • you are great and your name is great in might.
• 7 Who would not revere you, O king of the nations?
  • For you it is fitting.
• For among all the wise men of the nations,
  • and in all their kingdoms,[fn]
  • there is none like you.
• 8 At the same time[fn] they are stupid and foolish,
  • in the instruction of idols, it is wood.
• 9 Silver beaten from Tarshish is brought,
  • and gold from Uphaz,
• the work of the craftsman and the hands of the goldsmith.
• Blue and purple are their clothing,
  • all of them are the work of skillful people.
• 10 But Yahweh is the true God,
  • he is the living God,
  • and an everlasting king .[fn]
• Because of his wrath the earth quakes,
  • and the nations cannot endure his anger.

11 “⌊Thus⌋[fn] you shall say to them,

• ‘Gods who did not make the heavens and the earth
  • will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.
• 12 He is the maker of the earth by his power,
  • who created the world by his wisdom,
  • and by his understanding he stretched out heaven.
• 13 When he utters his voice[fn] there is a noise of water in the heavens,
  • and he causes the mist to rise from the ends[fn] of the earth.
• He makes lightning for the rain,
  • and he causes the wind to go out from his storehouses.
• 14 Everyone[fn] is stupid, without knowledge ,[fn]
  • every goldsmith is ashamed by his divine image,
• for his cast image is an illusion,
  • and there is no breath in them.
• 15 They are vanity, a work of mockery,
  • at the time of their punishment, they will perish.
• 16 The portion of Jacob is not like these,
  • for he is the creator of everything,
• and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance,
  • Yahweh of hosts is his name.
• 17 Gather your bundle from the ground,
  • you who live under the siege.’ ”

18 For thus says Yahweh,

• “Look, I am about to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time,
  • and I will bring distress to them, so that they may feel it.”